Youths demand employment, elderly people seek allowance

JAJARKOT, May 12: With the local elections just around the corner, youths of Jajarkot are demanding employment opportunities while the elderly are seeking better allowance from poll candidates during their door-to-door visits.

Candidates are visiting houses of the locals almost every single day to woo the voters. With the objective of getting more votes, the candidates are making various promises to the locals. But, the common demand of the youths to all the candidates has been employment whereas the senior citizens are requesting for regular and better allowance.

“If I vote for you, will I get a job?” This has been a compulsory question to all the candidates by twenty-eight-year old Tej Bahadur BK of Triveni Nalgad Municipality, Aulgurta. Similarly, seventy-four-year-old single woman Om Kumari Khatri of Bheri Municipality, Gairikhali asks, “If I vote for you, how much will be my allowance?”

Many elderly people in the villages are compelled to live a miserable life in absence of someone to look after them. So, they have been requesting for the increase in allowance with every single candidate. “Though all the candidates have brought attractive agendas, the first preference of young people like us is the guarantee of employment,” added BK. According to him, young people won't have to struggle in foreign lands if they get good job opportunities in their own country.

Undergraduate student Saraswoti Singh of Kushe Rural Municipality, Archan, said, “Progress and development of a village is only possible if all the youths are employed. So, youth employment should be the first priority for the people's representatives.”

As informed by her, many youths of her village are willing to vote for the candidates who are concerned about the future of youths.

Veda Bahadur Budha, 69, of Garkhakot said, “The new representatives have assured us to provide all the facilities of cities here in our own village. So, we are making our demands as per our needs.”

With the aim of flattering the voters, candidates are promising to fulfill all the demands made by the voters.

There are altogether three municipalities and four rural municipalities in Jajarkot. Candidates of major political parties are having a tough competition here.